Big Al,
A dollar is a promise to pay. I borrow it, buy something from you, do something to capture it back to fulfill my debt. The problem is not that it is “fiat”. The problem is “bank discount”. I have to capture more than the dollar to fulfill my debt because the Fed kept a chunk of it for themselves. It’s a book keeping trick. I know it’s hard to believe it’s been going on right under your nose all these years.

Eric makes a good point…. but misses the meaning of the word ‘fiat’. What does this word (fiat) mean , in reality? Fiat means that our ‘dollar’ is created by Authority and not by nature. This means that our ‘dollar’ is subjective and derived from primarily key Authority figures (in the case of the USA Mr. Ben S. Bernanke and his FOMC committee). Our Constitution, however, describes a ‘dollar’ which is defined in terms of nature (i.e., silver and indirectly gold). This distinction is paramount, in my opinion. D

And, the owners of the Fed get to decide who gets the big “loans”. This explains why the weapons, pharmaceutical, GMO, worthless space exploration and fake economics/law education industries are so big. Also, why we waste so much time on fake elections. It’s easy for a politician to attack the private Federal Reserve without exposing the real solution.

Hi Eric,
I’m sure there are a hundred bookkeeping and banking tricks. Of course. That’s how they stay profiting from this currency game. The key for us is not to get caught up in the minutia, but to understand that “fiat” currency systems are anathema to a free and liberated society. Aristotle said, “the first(A-Priori) function of government is to maintain the people’s “freedom”. And Plato said, “the most important function of gov’t is to implement “justice”. Well, our “fiat” currency system and banking system is neither free nor just. That’s the point. People are not free if they are hindered from making as much money as they can, spending their money on what they want, and keeping as much of it as they can, assuming all things are legal. The banking cartel, under the auspicies of the Fed. Reserve, came into being precisely to make sure that they always profit, but you and I don’t get ahead in this game, AND to make sure that the banks never have to cover their losses, but instead have the ability to socialize their losses onto our backs, in the form of higher and higher taxes, a devalued dollar, etc. Read the excellent book by G. Ed Griffin, “The Creature from Jekyll Island”. It explains how the current banking cabal came to be. All the best. Dan

Claus Vogt and Big Al are right on the money in segment one of the show today. The US and the European Union are bankrupt. No bank will lend money to any entity when the outstanding debt exceeds the service capacity of the borrower. That is precisely where the US and the European Union are at this point in time. We are relying on vendor financing from China to continue the appearance of solvency. This can not go on forever. Soon the bond vigilanties will require an increase in interest rates and the Federal reserve will no longer be able to monetize the long term debt.

Eric, appreciate your input. Yes, “nathan” is the Hebrew word translated divide in my particular translation. Some use “give” as you noted. You are partially correct when you say it means “give”. It does, but its usage can also suggest many slightly different words, with different connotations. “Nathan” is also translated add, apply, appoint, bestow, cast, cause, deliver up, grant, leave, perform, render, and I could go on, but you get the point. To understand how the word is to be translated requires a study of the context. However, even after studying the context scholars are still somewhat divided on the exact meaning of the verses 1 and 2 of Ecc. 11. But, it appears clear that whether you use “give” or “divide” the implication is diversification. My point was not to get into a Theological debate, which never end, but to simply show that Scripture suggests that a prudent approach to investing would be diversification. All the best. Dan

The next set of billionaires will not come from tech or oil. They will come from those who are involved in the manufacture of and investment in REEs (Rare Earth Elements). Guaranteed.

Just got back from the “Desert” and I will reply to all comments tomorrow (Monday)

Best to all,

Big Al

Capitalism is a system where everyone keeps what he earns and does with it what he chooses. Everything else is another system. Can you guess what the name of that other system is?

With respect to the incivility in public discourse and the fall of the US:

I have come to my Libertarian leanings from the Left side of the political spectrum. I have believed since the “Reagan Revolution” that the Republican mantra that continuing to give “tax cuts” and constantly haranguing the American public that government was overfunded, but without ever specifying any program cuts, or carrying through with any cost cutting when the opportunity arose, is just a big lie. I believed that at the least, the Democrats believed in taxing us for our spending (without borrowing), and that this was honest. You get what you pay for, and you get taxed for what you ask the government to do. If you want lower taxes, accept less of govt spending and the nanny state. You can’t have lower taxes AND more govt spending.

The Republican mantra of constant tax cutting (and growth will make up for it with massive revenue increases) was nothing but a lie, and our massive debt is the measure of that lie. I fear that when I hear the public comment on their belief that the country is being taken over by “communists, socialists” etc. shows that they have been brainwashed by the right-wing media but don’t see the complicity of the Republican Party in this whole mess. They constantly blame the left, and even during the “W” years, refused to see that complete Republican control was the worst example we had seen of government running amok, in the face of even more massive tax cutting and more spending. Yet they continue to believe that Republicans will save them and it is this “leftist” stuff that is killing us.

Well, but I see clearly that both parties qre together wreck our country . And all those common folk of the political right who have continually voted Republican to “save us” and have continued getting poorer and poorer, will continue to grow more hateful because the one right-wing program that has been successful for the last 30 years is the hate speech coming from the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly (built by Fox, Roger Ailes, Murdoch), and other members of the propaganda machine have, in Pavlovian style, are not aiding them in seeing the real problem.

Sorry about the language breaks in the last paragraph above:

In conclusion, we see (1) communists/socialists from the left in the form of public labor unions intent on enriching themselves at the public taxpayer trough as well as some liberal legislatures that insist on spending and spending. increasing taxes without consent (e.g., CA, IL); but paired with (2) the Corporatist/Fascist leanings of the Republicans at the Federal level who insist on tax breaks and massive Federal spending (again at the trough of the public taxpayer) to support the “private” contractors of our Warfare/Security State (Depts. of Defense, Homeland Security, Blackwater, Halliburton, KBR); the “private ” health care system (BIg Pharma, Insurance), the Finance Industry (Wall Street and Bank Bailouts); all with little to no oversight/regulation to control their costs, allowing them to bill us for their profits first, then what’s left for the “goods and services” they are actually providing. Both sides of this mess are there to enrich themselves without regard to the fact that we “hoi polloi” are seeing taxes going up and our incomes going down.

I don’t see this ending well.